The first item I was excited to tackle was the dresser. I had all the supplies on hand that I needed in order to get things done, so it was a super simple update that made a great difference to the space!

Here is what we started with. I had named it the Green Goblin.

The dresser was a family "hand-me-down" that once lived in our guest room, and was painted two shades of green. It was OK for a guest room, but when it was moved to Preston's room, it just wasn't working. Well, the dresser works great, the color however, not so much.

I have been planning for awhile to update it with grey and white, although, I went back and forth on adding a pattern or texture to the drawers. I decided to keep things simple for now, since I figured it would be easy to update towards the end of the room transformation should the room need a little extra somethin' somethin'.

As I mentioned, the entire process was super simple. Since it was already a painted dresser, I was just painting over paint. No priming needed, and I say Wahoo to that!

I loved the Annie Sloan chalk paint so much when I updated our thrift store stool, that I went right back for it for this dresser update.

I got some questions about why I love the chalk paint, and you can find all the details on the Annie Sloan website, but I love that it is very low VOC, great for painting furniture and no priming is needed. It covers oh so nicely, and that meant one single coat on the dresser!

I used some painters tape so I could keep the two toned look on the ends, the drawers were given three coats of Behr's Snow Fall.

And that is it! A few days to cure and we moved it right back into Preston's room.

The drawer pulls make me swoon. So dreamy. I actually purchased them awhile back for our master bedroom dresser but they just weren't right. I have been hanging on to them for this dresser update, and boy am I glad I did! They add a bit of sophistication to the room.

Since he is getting older, and will want to "check himself out" before heading to school, I brought in the mirror from our entry. The dark finish mimics the finish on his bed and is a nice balance to the wall.

Next to the mirror, I stole a few frames I have been hoarding for a gallery wall project, and printed some of Preston's baseball photos on our home printer.

For now, I kind of like they are all different frame finishes, it ties in all the finishes from around his room.

Since this part of the process was completely decorative and not organizational, the dresser was topped with a few of his accessories and this project was checked off as complete {and checked off of our top ten project list to boot}!

Oh, and a view from the side. I just love the two tone effect!

Let's love the before and after together, shall we?

What have you all painted with the fabulous chalk paint? {feel free to share a link if you have blogged about it} How about dresser updates? Such a room changer right?

49 comments:

I LOVE the two-tone! Might have to try that out next time. Here are two dressers I've recently redone:For the master bedroom: http://createbakecelebrate.blogspot.com/2012/10/create-dresser-for-master-bedroom.html

For the guest bedroom: http://createbakecelebrate.blogspot.com/2012/06/create-new-dresser-from-old-one.html

It looks so fantastic! My little guy is 8 and so over his red wagon room :) I've been creating a board for ideas and I have enjoyed following along as you update his room!Thanks for all the tips!Shelly

Really love that transformation & the two-tone idea. Nice handles, too. I also am a fan of Annie Sloan chalkpaint, so far I've transformed a dated, orange-pine toybox in Old White and a chest of drawers(which I'd rescued from a rubbish skip) in French Linen and added some gorgeous Anthropologie pulls. You can see them here at http://tidyawaytoday.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/chalkpaint-makeover-number-2/

I LOVE it, and I love the two tones and handles. I think the dresser will grow with him. My son is 9 and I'm just starting to re-do his room. It's hard to pick furniture and things that will grow with him.

Wow! This turned out SO great Jen! I use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on most of my furniture makeovers because it is so easy to work with. I love, love, LOVE how this example shows that it can work for a modern piece and not just a european/country finish. It looks awesome with those pulls. Great job!

Here is one of my fave pieces I did. I love how you can change it and use it as a wash too. ;-)

I love how the dresser looks now!! The new pulls really polish it off into a sophisticated piece and two-toned pieces are always gorgoues! I updated an ikea rast dresser also with a two-toned look: http://familylovehome.blogspot.com/2012/02/ikea-rast-hack.html

Love the new paint job...and I can't believe how much of a difference the new pulls made! Wow!

I've been wanting to try chalk paint for awhile now (considering DIY with some left-over paint I have). I have a cute little dresser I use next to a chair in the living room...just gotta commit on which color I want to paint it.

Love it. It's nice to see a chalk paint makeover that isn't distressed too - not that there's anything bad about the antiquey look, it's just good to see how versatile it can be. The pulls look great and I love the colors you picked. :)

That looks really really great! I am borderline obsessed with Annie Sloan paints. I recently painted all of my bedroom furniture and am soooo in love with them. The only problem is now I am looking all over my house to find what I can paint next! Haha! So, did you use the soft wax to finish it?I love the 2-toned on that dresser too. I wish you could just come and fix my house for me! Haha!

I love Annie Sloan's chalk paint! I'm actually getting ready to give my piano a makeover but am having a hard time deciding on a color... I'm leaning towards the duck egg blue with a dark wax. Random question for you... what kind of printer do you use? Mine is horrible and I would love a good recommendation for a new one :-)

Caught a glimpse of a desk in that closet!! I'd love to do that for my daughter... Question tho- where do u put his hanging clothes? (Or doesn't he have any- I suppose being a boy, maybe not:)). So ALL his clothes fit in that dresser?!! Where do u put his shoes? PS LOVE the new dresser look- definitely more sophisticated!!

Sorry I'm anonymous, I don't have any of those accounts to sign into. I have had so much fun exploring your pages the last 2 days! I found it by accident 'googling storage & decorating' - I love it. I've pinned a lot of things that I would love to incorporate into my home & am now following you on pinterest. You are really creative & have a good eye for color & design! -JudyL

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